Contents [hide]

Silver History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Silver History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Germany
Scotland

The English surname Silver is of several distinct origins. Firstly, it is derived from the Old English "silfor," meaning "silversmith"; in this instance, the progenitor of the name would have been someone who practiced this profession. 1

Alternatively, the name may be derived from the Old English "seolfre," meaning "silvery stream," and would in this case refer to someone who lived by such a stream. 2

Early Origins of the Silver family

The surname Silver was first found in Lincolnshire where the Book of Seals recorded Lucas Siluer in 1205 during the reign of King John, of England (1199-1216.) Later in Yorkshire, the Subsidy Rolls recorded John Siluer in 1301. Robert Silverhewer was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls for Yorkshire in 1212 and William Sylverour was a Freeman Of York in 1417. Thomas atte Selure (1327) and Thomas del Silvere (1332) were both recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire. 3

Up north in Scotland, "John Syllar was tenant of the garden of the Hospital of Dundee, 1464. James Silvir, "succentor Glasguensi," appears as witness in 1497, and may be James Siluer, rector of Durisdere, 1504. William Silver de Stobo was a charter witness, 1506, and another William Siluer or Silwer was a cleric in Aberdeen, 1540, and chaplain of Folaroull, 1546. The name Silver on a tomb in the Calton cemetery, Edinburgh, near the Stevenson 'lair' probably suggested to Robert Louis Stevenson the surname of his 'Long John Silver' in Treasure Island." 4

Early History of the Silver family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Silver research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1350, 1464, 1504, 1560, 1599, 1620 and 1700 are included under the topic Early Silver History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Silver Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Silver, Silvar, Silber, Silvers, Silvars, Silvia, Sylvia and many more.

Early Notables of the Silver family

Distinguished members of the family include

Sir Batholemew Silver, who was seated in Hertfordshire about 1350
Alexander Silver, a wealthy East India trader from Aberdeenshire, Scotland in the 1700s

Silver Ranking

In the United States, the name Silver is the 1,424^th most popular surname with an estimated 22,383 people with that name. 5

Silver migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Silver Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Silver, who landed in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1637 6
Mary Silver, who arrived in Virginia in 1643 6
Nicholas Silver, who arrived in Maryland or Virginia in 1674 6
Archibald Silver, a Scottish Quaker who settled in West New Jersey in 1680

Silver Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Silver, who settled in Virginia in 1743
Isaac Silver, who settled in Maryland in 1760
James Silver, who immigrated to Boston in 1765

Silver Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Antonio Silver, who arrived in Savanna(h), Georgia in 1815 6
Jose Silver, aged 25, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1831 6
M Silver, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1850 6
John Silver, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 6
S Silver, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1855 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Silver migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Silver Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Michael Silver, who immigrated to Nova Scotia in 1752
Louisa Silver, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1757
Michel Silver, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1757
Nicholas, I Silver, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1757

Silver migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Silver Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

John Silver, English convict from Suffolk, who was transported aboard the "Arab" on February 22, 1834, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 7

Silver migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Silver Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Frederick Silver, aged 29, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bebington" in 1876

Silver migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 8

Silver Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

Alexander Silver, who emigrated from Scotland to Jamaica in 1730

Contemporary Notables of the name Silver (post 1700) +

Stu Silver (1947-2023), American Primetime Emmy Award nominated screenwriter and television writer, best known for Throw Momma from the Train, Webster, It's a Living, Bosom Buddies and Soap
Leon Theodore "Lee" Silver (1925-2022), American professor of geology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), an instructor to the Apollo 13, 15, 16, and 17 astronaut crews, member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1974
Spencer Ferguson Silver (1941-2021), American chemist, co-inventor of Post-it notes in 1974, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2010
Warren M. Silver (b. 1948), American lawyer and jurist, State Supreme Court Justice in Maine
Thomas B. Silver (1947-2001), American author and scholar, President of the Claremont Institute
Sheldon "Shelly" Silver (b. 1944), American politician, 119th Speaker of the New York State Assembly (1994-2015), Member of the New York State Assembly (2013-2015)
Monroe Silver (1875-1947), American actor and singer, known for his monologues using a Jewish dialect-accent
Joseph "Joe" Silver (1922-1989), American stage, television, film and radio actor from Chicago, Illinois
Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver (1946-2009), American Tony award winning actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist
Philip Silver (1909-1999), American philatelist, known for his collection of air mail stamps, inducted into American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame in 2002
... (Another 9 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2015, January 8) Arab voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1834 with 230 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/arab/1834
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies